Bargaining Town Hall
Please join your Negotiating Committee on Tuesday, February 10 in David Strong Building room C103 (auditorium) for a thorough discussion of bargaining issues and our options for moving forward. There will be two sessions: 12:00 to 1:00 and 1:00-2:00 so we hope all Departments are able to ensure that the maximum number of members can attend.
After exchanging proposals September 30, 2014, we met with the employer many times throughout the fall and thoroughly discussed all the non-cost issues. Before we broke for the holidays we advised the employer that we were done talking and needed to see some action on our issues.
On January 13 the employer tabled a settlement package that highlighted UVic’s issues but did little to address the Union proposals. Your Negotiating Committee worked very hard to pull together a comprehensive response to UVic on January 20 that included both Union and employer issues, narrowing the Union’s proposals and focusing on our members’ priorities.
The ball is now firmly in the employer’s court to come back on February 3 and demonstrate whether there is a resolve on the part of UVic to address our members’ concerns about job security, benefit improvements, and an overhaul of the Joint Job Evaluation Plan.
Both sides have indicated there is an interest in getting a settlement by mid March in order that a wage increase can occur on April 1. The question now is whether UVic is interested in a positive settlement that avoids labour unrest before exams …
Whatever the employer puts in front of the Union on February 3, we know there will be a lot to discuss with our members at the Town Hall Meeting on February 10. See you there!
Doug Sprenger
President, CUPE 951
on behalf of the CUPE 951 Negotiating Committee